


Outcasts

by ghosts_in_the_snow



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Bi Harry, Black Hermione Granger, Brown Harry Potter, Drarry, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Gay Draco, Good Draco Malfoy, Hurt Nico di Angelo, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nico di Angelo Goes to Hogwarts, No Smut, Sad Nico di Angelo, Slow Burn, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED HOW SLOW THIS WILL BE, everyone is a bit gayyy, fuck you everyone is gay, hurt will solace, like really slow burn, non canon lgbtq chracters, worried camp halfblood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23614339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghosts_in_the_snow/pseuds/ghosts_in_the_snow
Summary: Nico Di Angelo was perfectly content with running away from his feelings and everyone at Camp Halfblood. But what happens when a certain mishap with the labyrinth lands him in a place called Hogwarts with a bunch of stick wielding maniacs and a strange boy with a lighting scar, who he can't quite shake his bad feeling of.(Set during the trials of Apollo, but pretend that they aren't happening!)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, another lesbian one but it's a secret, i think everyone is gonna end up gay except ron he jus seems so straight but i still love him
Comments: 8
Kudos: 78





	1. Nico makes an interesting first impression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico is tired of his shitty life and Hermione has her first day of hogwarts

_Okay, so you guys know the drill, I don’t own any of the characters, they belong to Rick Riordan and JK Rowling. Also I don’t know the ratings and stuff, but this will have cursing, maybe some kissing, but that’s it. I wanted Nico to start as a first year but after both wars, during the trials of Apollo, so at Hogwarts in this story you begin your first year at 13 and I know that Nico was like 14 at the end of the blood of Olympus, but just pretend that he’s 13 going on 14. Also things will be a bit different, because I don’t remember everything said in the book and since they're older, the characters may not react to events the same. And I know that Luna’s a year below them, I just love her and really want her in the story now, so yeah! I hope you don’t mind my changes, have a great day and thanks for reading! Nico_

**Nico**

Nico was tired. He was tired of war and the obligations, he was done with the gods using him as a pawn and the campers snide comments as he walked by. But most of all he was tired of caring.

He didn’t want to concern himself for the people that didn’t seem to bother for him at all. Nico just wanted to go numb, to feel nothing and love no one.

He tried shut out his feelings completely and set out on his own again, much like he had many times. Nico said his goodbyes and left the same day, people weren’t very worried they all knew the boy was quite fine on his own.

Nico kept to the wilderness picking fights with any monster who dared cross his path. He didn’t know how long he had been by himself and he didn’t really care, he had lost track of the days a while back. He hadn’t interacted with people since a hiker had glimpsed him through the trees and screamed something about zombie children.

He could see how the man would have thought that, his clothes were torn and stained with various materials, the most common being blood. But Nico didn’t care, he didn’t care about anything anymore.

He would respond to camp’s Iris Messages and tell them everything was all right, but he knew they didn’t believe him. But that didn’t matter since none of them cared enough to do anything about it.

\------

Nico stood, his back pressed firmly against a cold cellar wall, four huge ugly cyclops towered over him with their clubs ready. Nico knew this was the end, he was exhausted and wouldn’t stand a chance, and thanks to his loner status, no one was coming to rescue him.

He wasn’t afraid of death, he knew what would come, but he wasn’t ready to end his life just yet. Though he didn’t understand it, something kept driving him forward, pushing him away from suicidal thoughts and actions.

Nico closed his eyes listening for a swish of a club and bracing himself for impact. But something caught his glance, a glistening blue mark etched into stone.

The mark of Daedalus.

Everything seemed to slow down upon this realisation, Nico saw the crude shape of the club start to come down on his head, he watched the cyclops’ hungry faces change into unnerving grins and he found himself reaching for the mark.

Suddenly the floor retracted beneath his feet and he fell into darkness. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who fell, the closest cyclops was sucked into the void as well. Nico hit the floor with a small thud and the monster came with a deafening thump. The others stared down at them, dumbfounded as the gaping hole closed itself, and appeared motionless, as if nothing odd had ever happened.

A thousand thoughts raced through Nico's mind at once. Didn’t the labyrinth collapse after Daedalus died? How is it here now? Idiot, it obviously must have started to rebuild itself, where did that cyclops go? And how in Hades was Nico going to navigate this death trap??

He decided to start slow, he reached for his bag and pulled out a flashlight. Nico appeared to be in a small damp passageway, with the unconscious cyclops slumped to his right. He pulled out some ambrosia, oh gods he only had 3 squares left. He ate one in order to regain some of his strength and staggered off towards his sword.

Nico gripped the hilt and hobbled over to the monster. He felt like an old man, well technically he was in his 70’s. Nico knew that the creature was currently not a threat, but if he had the chance to ensure one less monster running around here with him, then he would take it. He stabbed the cyclops in the chest and watched, rather satisfied, as it crumbled into dust and was sucked in by his blade.

Nico turned his attention to the passageway, it branched off into 5 hallways. He heard strange growling noises coming off the one to the right, so he quickly hobbled off into the far left.

Nico was far too weak to shadow travel right now even if he had eaten all the ambrosia in his bag, he would need days of sleep before he was powerful enough. But Nico could risk that with all the monsters prowling around in the corridors.

\------

Nico didn’t know how long he had been walking for, only that he was tired and hungry and ...scared. No, no Nico wasn’t scared, he was the Ghost King, prince of darkness, son of Hades, he didn’t get scared. But on the contrary he jumped and scurried off every time he heard a faint noise.

Nico knew his only chance of survival was to keep moving, but he was convinced he was just getting himself more lost. The last he knew was that he was somewhere in Scotland, judging by the peoples' accents.

Nico slumped against the cold wall of the Labyrinth, this was it, there was no way he could find an exit and he would most certainly kill himself if he attempted any underworld magic He would just sit here and die of starvation or a monster attack. He would rather go out on his own terms than lose his mind in these sinister traps. He closed his eyes and waited for death.

\------

Nico dreamed he was sitting in a meadow. It was a nice change to his usual nightmares, but he didn’t trust the serenity. He looked over and Bianca was at his side, she grinned at him and picked a flower, twirling it in her fingers. Nico smiled and stared at the calm blue sky. He turned to Bianca again wanting to say something, she was still grinning.

He opened his mouth to speak but the words seemed unimportant as her smile became less and less human.  
“What’s wrong Nico?” Bianca asked, her voice filled with mock sympathy. Soon her grin had reached up to her chocolate brown eyes and her teeth were growing more fang like. Bianca’s face started to morph along with Nico’s surroundings. He watched in horror as the large rough shape of a giant’s face took form. He bared his teeth and repeated again, is the same tone as Bianca,  
“What’s wrong?”

Shaking in terror Nico realised that he was back in the jar holding the same 5 pomegranate seeds and then one by one they disappeared, until he was left with nothing but his dying breath.  
“Oh, I’m sorry you don’t like it here do you? Well we can arrange for a new prison.” Bianca’s voice said. The giant sauntered over to a large red button, Nico felt the ground disappear beneath him and he had the familiar jolt of falling.

He spiraled down a dark pit, claws and scaly hands reached out from the blackness and tore at his clothes, leaving bloody scratches up and down his pale body. Nico felt the pain before the water, river Acheron. He flapped his arms around, trying to stay afloat as the tortuous feeling seared over his body, devoid of mercy. Acheron doesn’t only cause physical pain, mental suffering too and it is far worse. Torturing pictures flashed before Nico’s eyes, loved ones dead, disfigured, tortured, giants, hydras, Hazel dead, Bianca leaving him, Jason and Percy Killing each other. A thousand voices seemed to scream in his ears, begging for help, threatening him, it didn’t matter.

Nico couldn’t feel water anymore, only pain, he couldn’t open his eyes and escape the images, he stayed trapped in his head, his own mind determined to torture and punish himself. Until a voice broke through.  
“Wake up.” it whispered in his ear, though still cutting through the incoherent cries. It pounded in his head, getting louder and more demanding, until it was screaming with the desperation of a starving wild animal.  
“WAKE UP!” it bellowed one last time and Nico obeyed.

He awoke in a cold sweat, the voice still thundering in his ears, it was minutes until he realised it was his own. Nico hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face as tears fell freely, dampening his clothes.

He knew it would be dangerous for him to stay in the same place too long as he had just alerted every monster in the area to an easy meal. Nico stood up on shaky legs leaning on his sword, forcing it to carry most of his weight. He took a slow breath and staggered forward. It was much to his delight as he began to see a faint glow from a path up ahead, and noticed that ever so slightly it angled up. He walked as quickly as his tired body allowed, relief ran through his mind. He was not going to die down here.

Or so he thought. Just as Nico was reaching for a trap door a creature flung itself out of the shadows.  
“That’s my entrance” Nico growled and he thrusted his sword at it. Taking away his walking stick so suddenly caused him to stagger. The creature took this as an opportunity to strike and slashed at Nico with its claws.

He deflected the majority of its attack but it still gave him a nasty gash across his arm. Nico regarded the monster which he identified as a young Telkhine, neither of them seemed to know what to do from there.

Nico quickly pulled the trap door down and hoisted himself up. But unfortunately the Telkhine seemed intent on coming too and grabbed hold of his leg.

Nico felt eyes on him, but he could hardly worry about that now, he kicked the monster of his leg and slashed at it with his sword. The creature leapt back with surprising speed. Nico knew he was not alone in his new surroundings, but the monster was far more important, so he didn’t allow his gaze to wander from the fight.

Finally Nico managed to land a good blow and watched as the creature returned to Tartarus. He turned his attention to the scene he had interrupted. About 15 kids his age stared at him, their mouths agape, they all wore odd robes and seemed to be in a classroom.

A formidable old woman stood at the front of the class staring at him too. Suddenly Nico noticed that they all seemed to be carrying sticks. They gaped at him in shock for a few moments until Nico realised that no one was going to break the ice, so he took it upon himself.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare.” he told them glaring rather menacingly and their eyes snapped anywhere but him. The deathly pale boy spoke with a slight Italian accent that did nothing but enhance the threat. He turned to the women assuming she was in charge.  
“What is the meaning of this?” she said, her tone dangerously calm.

Nico shrugged,  
“Don’t ask me this wasn’t where I was expecting to end up.” he replied.  
“What is your name young man?” she asked, studying him.  
“if I tell you my name if you tell me where exactly it is I am?” Nico said.  
“You are at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” she told him. He stifled a laugh at the name ‘Hogwarts’ and began to study his surroundings, suddenly remembering his end of the bargain

“Nico.”  
“I think it would be best if you came with me Mr… er Nico. Children read chapter one and behave yourselves.” she said, sweeping dramatically out the door with her emerald green cloak. Nico hesitated, they could be monsters or dangerous mortals and they would certainly take his sword. He stowed it in the shadows knowing these kids would snitch if they saw him turn it into a ring. The shadows were the safest option. He stumbled out into the hall, panting.

He was tired and could barely stand, let alone match her swift pace. As he walked the world seemed to shift around him and he felt light headed. Suddenly he stumbled and watched with a strangled scream as everything faded to black. The only thought that circled in his head as the floor grew closer, was home, he just wanted to go home. But he didn't even know where his home was.

\----

**Hermione**

Hermione was nervous to say the least. Today was the day she started at her new school, but one unbelievably unlike her last, where she would receive an education of witchcraft and wizardry. She had gotten all her books and supplies months ago as well as read Hogwarts a history cover to cover (several times), so why should she be nervous?

Everything was ready and organised, just the way she liked it, her parents were very excited for her and she even had arrived at the platform an hour early. There was nothing that could go wrong.

Hermione sat alone in a compartment on the train, her luggage properly stowed and she had already changed into her robes. She checked her watch, the train wasn’t scheduled to depart for another fifteen minutes. Hermione pulled out a book and tried to focus on something other than her doubts, but her mind seemed intent on psyching herself out.

To put it bluntly, she was not a likable person. Many over the years had called her an knowitall, as well as some other colourful titles, but knowitall was the most common and rather fitting for her. Hermione didn’t deny that she was what they claimed her to be, but she didn’t see anything wrong with it. So what if she was smart? Were other people so utterly threatened by her simply because she knew a few more things than them?

Worries spiraled through her head as she slumped against the window staring at the old grey train station. No one was going to like her here either, she would be alienated by her peers, a complete outcast, it was inevitable.

Hermione stared out the window, lost in thought, but jumped suddenly as a voice interrupted the silence.  
“H-hello, I’m N-Neville Longbottom”  
Hermione turned around and saw a nervous round faced boy standing awkwardly at the door.  
“Hello, I’m Hermione Granger, would you like to sit?” she asked, giving him a small smile, Neville seemed relieved at not having to ask.

He took a seat across from her and stowed away his luggage, before staring awkwardly at his shoes.  
“Are you a first year too?” she asked, happy to have someone to talk to.  
“Yeah, my gran was so relieved when I got my letter, she thought I was a squib.” Hermione laughed and told him about how her dad had sloped orange juice all over himself when an owl crashed into the kitchen window with her letter.

The conversation carried on politely, mainly centered around facts Hermione had found interesting in Hogwarts a History, as Neville hadn’t read it yet.  
“What house do you think you’ll be in?” he asked her.  
“Probably Ravenclaw, what about you?” she replied.  
‘I don’t really know, perhaps Hufflepuff.” Hermione nodded, but her attention was soon turned elsewhere as the door to their compartment slid open.

A girl entered with long, dirty blonde hair and a dazed expression on her face.  
“Hello, may I sit? She asked in a dreamy voice while staring out the window.  
“Please do, I’m Hermione Granger and this is Neville Longbottom.”  
“I’m Luna Lovegood” she said absentmindedly twirling her hair as she plopped down next to Neville.

Luna had large silvery grey eyes that danced around the room landing the most random of things as well as rather arched eyebrows causing her to look surprised at everything. Hermione also noticed that she kept her wand behind her ear, tangled in a mess of her wavy blonde hair.

She pulled out a magazine called the ‘Quibbler’ and proceeded to read it upside down, while sneaking quick glances at the other occupants every now and then.

Hermione wasn’t really sure what to think of Luna, she liked Neville though, he was easy to talk to. The compartment fell into a comfortable silence and Hermione and Neville both pulled out books. Neville seemed to be reading one about plants, Hermione remembered he mentioned he liked Herbology.

Soon looking out the window became far more interesting, as the train began to glide down the tracks. Luna stared mesmerised by the scenery and didn’t seem to take her silvery eyes off it.  
“The Crumple Horned Snorkack would just love it out here.” she told them in her misty voice. Neville and Hermione exchanged a look but didn’t comment.

Hermione had fallen into a light sleep, when suddenly a loud bangs shook her awake. It was Neville, he was frantically looking around the compartment, as Luna sat watching him curiously. Her gaze shifted to Hermione and she said softly,  
“He said he’s lost his toad, though I think the Nargles took it.”  
“Trevor?! Trevor!” Neville called, looking rather distraught. Hermione began to search too and Luna followed her lead, though still seeming to be in some sort of daze.

“I think we should split up and check outside the compartment.” Neville nodded and made his way to the door, Hermione and Luna followed in suit. They split up and scoured the train for Trevor, but had no such luck.

Hermione had finally resorted to searching other people's compartments and telling her peers to look out for the escaped toad. She slid open a door to see a boy with flaming red hair and another with curly black hair, light brown skin and shockingly green eyes. She noticed the redhead had his wand out and it was pointed at a rather large grey rat.

“Oh are you doing magic? Let’s see then” Hermione said, curious about the other kids' abilities. The redhead gave her an annoyed look and began to recite a ‘spell’  
“Sunshine, Daisies, Buttermellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!” he practically yelled swishing his wand, however nothing happened.  
“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” she asked, looking skeptical. The boy mumbled something about getting it from his brother and proceeded to stuff his face with their large supply of sweets.

“Well anyway have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one.” they shook their heads and she was about to leave but then noticed something.  
“You two should change into your robes, we’re nearly there.” Hermione told them before slipping out into the hall.

\------

After spending the whole train ride looking for Trevor, he had still yet to be found. Hermione exited the train with Neville and Luna to find herself on the outskirts of a damp looking forest and a rather ominous lake. A large man stood at the edge of the water with lots of small rickety old boats.  
“Firs’ years! Firs’ years, over ‘ere! “ he called with a very gruff voice. She clumped around him along with many of the other kids.

Once they all seemed to have arrived, the man who had introduced himself as Hagrid the Hogwarts gamekeeper told them to get in the boats for the traditional first year sail across the lake. Hermione obliged, though somewhat reluctantly and got in a boat with Neville, Luna and another boy who she had yet to meet.

He smiled widely at them.  
“Hi, I’m Seamus Finnigan, and you guys are?” he spoke with a minor Irish accent and seemed to be directing his question at everyone.  
“I’m Hermione Granger.” she said, and Neville introduced himself as well and asked if Seamus had seen his toad. Hermione noticed that Luna was staring off into space and seemed to be unaware of the conversation.  
“That’s Luna Lovegood.” she told Seamus and he nodded, looking curiously at the blonde.

\-------

Hermione stood along with all the other first years gazing at the spectacular great hall. The ceiling looked like it went all the way up into the sky, but she knew that it was probably just a powerful illusion. She jumped a little when she first noticed the ghosts, but soon got used to them floating around. What she found most interesting was the paintings, the way they talked and moved about through one another frames, it was unbelievable.

She turned her attention to the teachers table, an old man sat with a very long silver beard and flowing purple robes. Hermione knew exactly who he was, Albus Dumbledore, the greatest Wizard to ever live. His eyes seemed to twinkle and glow with pride as he looked around at his school. On his right sat a woman with a very stern expression and her hair tucked tightly into a bun. Another man with greasy black hair and a hooked nose was whispering something into the headmaster's ear. Hermione noticed as his glance shifted to another teacher with a large purple turban, looking around nervously.

Dumbledore nodded and stood up, the hall fell silent in a matter of seconds.  
“Welcome to our first years! And to our older students, welcome back I would like to mention that the forbidden forest and 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side are off limits to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death,” he said, his voice booming across the hall. The first years shifted uncomfortably at that, but the older students acted like it was business as usual. The old wizard sat down again and the strict looking woman stood up.  
“This is the time when our first years will be sorted into their houses!” Her attention turned to the first years and she gave instructions and brought out an old worn looking hat.

Hermione looked curiously at it and jumped when it began to sing. It talked about the traits of the students in each house, but Hermione only pulled one thing from it, that she didn’t already know. She definitely belonged in Ravenclaw.

“Abbott Hannah” the woman who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, called and a girl awkwardly walked to the front. The only sat on her head for about a second when it bellowed  
“Hufflepuff!” the whole Hufflepuff table cheered and the girl rushed off

After a girl named Francais Emma was sorted into Ravenclaw Hermione was called. She walked to the front swiftly, her heart beating about a mile a minute and she sat on the small stool. Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head and she jumped as a voice spoke in her mind.

'Ah, yes very smart and ambitious I see, you would do well in Ravenclaw, but let’s have a look at some of your memories.' She felt the hat rifling through her mind, which she didn’t enjoy, but allowed.  
'Yes you are loyal to your friends, but not so easily trusting I see, not Hufflepuff then. Cunning and Devious yes but you wouldn’t stomp on others to get ahead, and admirable quality, not Slytherin.' Hermione was rather relieved to hear this.  
'Oh yes, most don’t want to be in Slytherin anymore, gets a very bad reputation with all the dark wizards and such. Oh! Quite brave I see, very brave, not afraid to be yourself and stand up for your friends. I guess I’m going to put you in -'  
“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted and the red and gold table broke into applause. Hermione ran off to the table and sat down next to the boy she met on the boat, Seamus Finnigan.

Soon she heard a familiar name called.  
“Longbottom Neville!” she heard a few sniggers at the table, but silenced them with a harsh glare. Neville stood up looking rather pale and walked to the stool. The hat seemed to sit on his head longer than most others and a range of emotions played across Neville’s face.  
“GRYFFINDOR!” that hat shouted and the table cheered, though Hermione cheered the loudest. Neville came over, beaming and sat down next to Hermione.

Just after Neville, Hermione recognised another name.  
“Lovegood Luna!” Professor McGonagall called. Luna stood up airily, not looking the least bit nervous and strolled with a little bit of a skip in her step, up to the stool. She sat down and remained silent for a few moments, but then let out a whimsical laugh, as if the sorting hat had just made a joke. She began to twirl her hair around her wand, giving small nods and smiling carelessly. The students exchanged odd looks but she didn’t notice.  
“RAVENCLAW!” the hat announced, Hermione watched as the teachers and students poorly masked their surprise. Luna however was characteristically oblivious and skipped over to the Ravenclaw table, they looked a bit unsure but clapped nonetheless.

“Malfoy Draco!” a thin, pale boy with bleach blonde hair and a smug expression came sauntering up to the front. He sat on the stool smirking and holding his head high. The hat barely touch his slicked back hair before the it roared,  
“SLYTHERIN!” The boy’s expression didn’t change as he took his time and went to sit with his cheering housemates. In other words Hermione already didn’t like him.

Hermione listened intently to all the other names called but they eventually became just a jumble in her head. Until one stood out like a green giraffe.  
“Potter Harry!” with that the hungry crowd became even more restless, people were whispering and pointing. Of course despite being muggle born Hermione knew all about the boy who lived, as many books in the wizarding world mentioned him.

Hermione watched intently as a nervous raven haired boy walked up to the stool. It was then that she realised she had met him on the train, sitting with the redhead. Soon the hall silenced when Potter sat down on the stool and everyone watched breathlessly as the hat made its choice.

Harry seemed to be muttering something under his breath, and scowled suddenly, Hermione, for once, hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on.  
“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted. Hermione’s peers broke into absolute chaos as Harry walked awkwardly over to the table. 2 look alike redheads stood up screaming  
“WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!” Hermione smiled and clapped just as loudly as the others, she had to admit it did feel nice to be in the same house as the boy who lived. Harry sat down near a few beckoning students, his face scarlet. The redheaded boy was sorted last, (he was also put in Gryffindor) and made his way over to Harry, who looked eager to have someone he knew at the table.

Dumbledore stood up and the chaos broke into hushed whispers and then silence. He smiled fondly at the blank and hungry faces of students.  
“I only have a few words to say. Higgered Robigshook Flibbet!!” he announced happily. Hermione’s confusion was quickly wiped away as mountains of food appeared on the table. She suddenly realised how much her nerves had distracted her from her appetite. Famished, she dug in, having several of everything.

Hermione didn’t talk much as dinner, she didn’t really know what to say. Neville and Seamus seemed more interested in getting to know Harry Potter, and the last thing she wanted was to be labeled as some try hard who was desperate for friends, even though she kind of was.

\------

She followed Percy the Prefect up to the Gryffindor dormitories, trying to make note of every detail and turn to avoid getting lost. However her exhaustion and food coma betrayed her, as she wandered the halls in a daze with the rest of the first years. She fell into an easy sleep that night, her four poster bed seemed like heaven as she sunk into it, disappearing beneath a mound of blankets.


	2. Nico is not a Zoo animal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico loses his temper and an interrogation goes very badly

**Hermione**

The next morning Hermione woke up with a hectic feeling bouncing around her chest, it was the first day of classes. She poured through her schedule, even though she knew it by heart. First off was Transfiguration and then Charms, Lunch, Potions, then the History of magic. She got ready, careful not to wake anyone as she was the first one up, then she tipped toed down to the common room. It was completely empty, but the schedule said breakfast starts at 7:30 and goes until 8:15. It was around 7:20, but Hermione, even with her meticulous reading of Hogwarts a History could not decipher how to navigate the castle, so she gave herself some extra time. 

Hermione wandered around the halls, occasionally having to jump from staircase to staircase as they moved quite suddenly. It was then when Hermione was absolutely sure she was lost, that a translucent man in a frilly collar walked out of the wall, nearly missing her. He floated on by and Hermione mustered the courage to ask for directions.

“Erm, uh sir?” she said, trying to get his attention. The ghost turned around and smiled at her.   
“Yes?” he replied politely.

“I’m sorry to bother you but could you point me to the way of the dining hall?” she asked with a bit more confidence. 

“Oh of course dear, you aren't very far off, just through this hallway down to the left, I’m Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, the Gryffindor ghost, and you are?” he told her floating alongside as she strolled down the hall, following his directions.

“My name is Hermione Granger, I’m a Gryffindor first year.” she replied happily to be talking to someone who seemed interested in her, even though he was a ghost. 

“Brilliant, I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of me then.” with that he left Hermione to her breakfast, off to do whatever it is that ghosts do. 

\-----

There weren't many other students in the dining hall, most of the kids that did show up were Prefects and a handful of fellow first years. Hermione took her seat at the Gryffindor table. There were a few others, but they were far older than her, so she sat alone. Hermione ate some toast, not in the mood for a large breakfast. 

Hermione finished eating rather quickly, and was growing bored, so she decided to set off to Transfiguration. Though it took her a long time to navigate the devious paths of Hogwarts, she still made it to Transfiguration quite early. The door to the classroom was open, so Hermione assumed she was aloud in. She sat down at a desk in the front and set out her materials needed for class. 

It was longer than Hermione cared to admit for her to notice the large tabby cat sitting on the professor's desk staring curiously at her. Hermione blinked at it, just to be sure it wasn’t a figment of her imagination, however the cat remained as real as ever. It seemed to study her, with an expression that a cat shouldn’t have been able to form. Hermione decided to ignore it’s intense gaze and set out reading her book. 

After a few pages other kids started trickling into class, it seemed they shared Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws as she saw Luna come glide through the door in a daze and move to sit at the back. Hermione read on, soon class started and she put her book down. However their professor was nowhere in sight, she waited patiently, suppressing a few angry thoughts. 

Two boys staggered in breathless. 

“Thank god, could you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late?” the redhead asked, the raven haired boy Hermione now knew as Harry Potter, as they took their seats. Suddenly the tabby cat lept from the desk and formed itself into a woman in wizarding robes. Hermione gasped in surprise along with the other students, the noises soon turned into applause. After McGonagall reprimanded Harry and the boy who she learned was named Ron, class began.

Hermione hastily scribbled down notes as the professor talked. It was about halfway through their lesson when something utterly impossible happened. 

A large trap door swung open from the floor, at first Hermione had thought it was part of their Professor’s lesson plan, but McGonagall seemed to be just as shocked as they were. A boy about their age hoisted himself up. But unfortunately something else came with him too. An ugly creature, with sleek black skin, seal-like hindquarters and an evil face, was holding on to his leg, tight enough to draw blood. Hermione gasped, scared out of her mind.  _ How did this boy get here!? Doesn’t Hogwarts have protection magic?! What is that creature!? Why does the boy have a sword!? Wait, why is he covered in blood?!  _ The boy jabbed at the creature with his wicked black blade, he was definitely experienced, but looked tired. His movements were a bit sluggish and you could tell that each of them caused him pain. 

He landed a good hit on the creature and it burst into dust and was sucked up into his sword. Hermione stared in shock with all of the other kids, her mind racing, but also feeling strangely blank. The boy stood, deathly pale, with shaggy dark black hair and hollow, angry eyes. His clothes were tattered and torn, covered in stains, though mostly blood and dirt. 

The boy looked at them annoyed, and said with a slight, but noticeable Italian accent that Hermione did not expect him to carry, 

“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?” most of the other students dropped their gazes immediately, though Hermione kept hers fixed on the young man. 

“What is the meaning of this” Professor McGonagall said masking her obvious panic in a calm voice

“Don’t ask me this isn’t where I was expecting to end up.” he said casually, as though he had accidentally taken the wrong train. 

“What is your name young man?” Hermione didn’t know why she had asked this question as opposed to the more pressing one, how did you appear out of the floor?! 

“If I tell you my name will you tell me where exactly it is that I am?” he asked, matching her calm voice with a mocking one, which Hermione thought was extremely disrespectful. Though McGonagall seemed unfazed.

“You are at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.” The boy seemed to stifle a laugh and looked around and studied everyone, his eyes landing on Hermione for a second, though flitting away when he saw her looking back at him. After a few moments of silence he seemed to remember the agreement. 

“Nico.” 

McGonagall told him to follow her and stepped briskly out into the hall. Nico waited a moment and left with her. However his sword seemed to be gone. He walked quite slowly and swayed dangerously out of the room. Hermione’s suspicions were confirmed when she heard the boy’s yell and thud in the hall. 

**Nico**

Nico awoke in what seemed to be a bed, but he didn’t dare open his eyes to confirm. Voices could be heard, distant, but audible, Nico listened eager for information.

“You still don’t have any idea who the boy may be?” it sounded like the women he had talked to in the classroom. A man sighed and responded, seeming unperturbed by her questioning.

“I’ve already told you Minerva, I intend to ask the young man himself, he may have a perfectly reasonable explanation and besides he’s just a boy, how dangerous can he be?” Nico held in a laugh at this.

“I watched him slay a vicious creature all by himself! And how could he have a perfectly reasonable explanation to appear unchaperoned in Hogwarts, by passing the numerous protection spells and need I remind you we both know that we are headed for dark times, Albus, this could be the beginning!” Nico had to be careful of her, she seemed observant and very untrusting.

“I promise I will question the boy thoroughly and be sure he is not a threat… in fact I think he’s awoken now and is listening to our conversation. Let’s go say hello, shall we?” Nico did not expect this, the man was far more vigilant than he had first thought. Nico didn’t even try to fake it, he sat right up with a dizzy head and waited for them to enter. 

Nico appeared to be in some sort of infirmary, judging on the long row of white beds and the sterile hospital smell he had come to hate.

An old man with a long silver beard and a crooked nose, Albus opened the door for the woman in the classroom, Minerva.

“Hello Nico.” the man said, his eyes twinkling and a smile pressed onto his lips. The said boy didn’t respond.

“My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of this school and this is Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house.” Nico nodded and stared warily at the man. He could sense power radiating from him as well as from McGonagall. What had he gotten himself into?

“We would like to ask you a few questions, n-” Nico cut him off

“No,” he said bluntly. He wasn’t an idiot, information is power, he wasn’t about to tell him his whole life story and there was no way he was going to reveal the demigods to the wizarding world. That would cause anarchy. Nico didn’t peg this old man for the torture type, and even if he was, Nico had stood through worse anyway.

“It wasn’t a question.” the man simply replied . 

‘I don’t care, I’m not revealing anything about myself. Now  _ I  _ would like it if you would let me go.” Now it was Dumbledore's turn to be blunt.

“No” 

“And why is that?” 

“Because I don’t fancy sending troubled young people off into the world alone, especially when they seem to be hiding something.” Nico gave Dumbledore a questioning look and rolled his eyes.

“Fine you can keep me here, but I’m not going to talk.” he said, wanting to go back to sleep.

There was silence for a little while and then McGonagall spoke up.

“Well I best be going, Fred and George have jinxed all the first year's quills to rip up their parchments.” she stood up and walked to the door, however before slipping through Dumbledore caught her eye and gave the slightest of nods. With that she stepped out of the infirmary, her footsteps disappearing down the long corridor. Dumbledore studied Nico, still with that unbelievably annoying twinkle in his eye and Nico did the same, but with a death stare instead.

“Perhaps if you knew more about your situation you would be keener to open up.” he decided

“You did not seem too shocked when Professor McGonagall told you that this is a school for Wizards and witches.” Nico nodded, when he and Hades were on speaking terms he told him about many other worlds _. _ It came as a shock to him at first, but he learned to accept it. 

“Do you know what the Ministry of Magic is, Nico?” Nico looked at him questioningly and shook his head, somewhat convinced that he was making that name up.

“They are the governing system for the wizarding world, they keep us hidden from mortals and maintain order. In the four days that you have been out, the word of your arrival has spread quickly, so much so that the Minister of Magic himself has taken an interest in you.” 

Nico narrowed his eyes.

“And what exactly does that mean?” he asked.

“Well, judging by your character it seems unwise to sugar coat this, Minister Cornelius Fudge thinks that you are a dark wizard and is holding you on trial for a sentence to Azkaban.” Dumbledore said, his voice grim.

“What the Hades is Azkaban?” Nico asked, unshaken.

“A terrible wizard jail, guarded by the most horrible of creatures, who force you to relive your worst memories.” Nico shuddered at this, he already did enough of this in his nightmares, but all the time? He didn’t think he could take it without going insane. He suddenly noticed that Dumbledore was still staring at him in concern, his eyes flicking down to Nico’s hands which were clenched tightly around the blanket he was covered in. He gave a small nod of confirmation when Dumbledore’s eyes rested on his face once more, and returned his mind on processing this new information.

“Though, with my help, I’m sure I could convince him that you are no threat, if you tell me the truth.”

It could all be a trap, an elaborate lie to get him to reveal his identity, then again it could be real. Nico wasn’t sure what to do, he couldn’t just spill his whole story to a man he barely knew, let alone trusted, but if the jail was as bad as Dumbledore had made it out to be, then Nico couldn’t risk going there.

“When will this minister man be arriving for my trial?” Nico asked, hoping it would be far away enough for him to regain his strength for some shadow travel.

“Tonight” Nico scowled at this, he needed more time to rest. 

Nico took the silence as a chance to study his surroundings. It was larger than the infirmary at camp, Will would have been jealous. He internally scolded himself for thinking about Will at a time like this. The windows were large but were far too high up to jump. He only had one option, tell the truth or mastermind a lie. Nico noticed that Dumbledore was still staring intently at him, he returned the old man’s gaze with a glare. 

He decided upon even seeing if he  _ could _ lie in this scenario. 

“And how will you know that I’m telling the truth?” Nico asked.

“Ah well, we will have to be sure you are not tricking us,” he said, seeming to read Nico’s mind

“So if you agree to go along with our plan you will tell us the absolute truth about who you are and what you want, then you be administered Vertilisarm, a potion that takes away your ability to lie and we will ask you if you were being honest and if you answer yes then we will believe you.” he said, eyes twinkling

Nico’s scowl deepened, he would have to go for an escape plan. After another long silence Dumbledore spoke again.

“By any chance do you perhaps know a man by the name of Chiron?” he asked. Nico’s heart jumped, he couldn’t know? Could he? He had to know, you didn’t just throw names around like Chiron for no reason.   
“Does he run a camp?” Nico asked unsure of how to confirm that Dumbledore did indeed know.

“Oh yes, a summer camp for very special children. Chiron is an old friend.” Ok, he definitely knew and he wasn’t being very subtle about it. 

“Seeing as I won’t risk exposing the Halfblood world,” Nico said, wanting to jump quickly to the point.

“I’ll take your stupid wizard potion, but nothing I tell you leaves this room, those are my terms, and I promise you I can make your life very hard if you leak this information” Nico told him, but Dumbledore seemed more amused by his threat than scared, which needless to say annoyed Nico greatly.

“A wise choice, I will go fetch it.” Nico didn’t reply, he was too busy thinking about what to tell Dumbledore and fuming about being stripped of his privacy. He knew he couldn’t lie, but it wasn’t like he had to tell the old man everything. He would most definitely leave out his real age and the Roman demigods, but what about the wars? How private was that information? Should Nico tell him of his parentage?

Questions swirled around in his mind, but Nico didn’t have time to sort them out before Dumbledore came waltzing back through the door. He sat in the chair next to the raven haired boy’s bed and looked at him expectantly. Nico knew what this meant, it was time for the metaphorical tea to be split. (Will had taught him that expression before he left, did he use it right?”)

“As you know my name is Nico Di Angelo, my mortal mother died when I was too young to remember her, so my godly parent arranged for myself and my sister to stay in many different places for a while since he felt guilty for her death, the most recent being a boarding school, about 2 years ago. It was then that monsters started to sniff us out, but a group of demigods found us and brought us to Camp Halfblood. My sister died soon after and I left camp, traveling with some of my friends on and off. But for the past month I'd say I’ve been on my own. As for the random appearance, I was exploring an underground labyrinth and got lost, so I took the first exit I could find. I mean no harm to the wizarding world and want nothing more than to leave.” Nico finished with a blank face, trying to keep emotion out of his voice. He was sure he could get away with saying this, it wasn’t a lie, just not the whole truth. 

Dumbledore considered this and Nico noticed something he saw in so many peoples’ eyes; pity. Nico was about to snap at him, but then the man nodded his approval. 

“May I ask who your godly parent is?” 

“No you may not.” he finished annoyed.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I need an assessment of your powers.” Nico’s glare intensified, but the old wizard seemed unaffected. He sighed, hoping this would not come back to his age.

“Hades.” he grumbled under his breath, but Dumbledore heard anyway. He asked no follow up questions, so Nico assumed he knew nothing of the pact of the big three and let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. 

He watched as the man uncovered a small bottle of clear liquid from his robes and handed it to Nico. He glowered, but downed the potion in a quick swig, it tasted bitter. 

“Is everything you told me, the absolute truth?” he asked gravely. Nico seemed to answer before he had even processed the question. His lips moved without his mind’s permission. 

“Yes!” he replied urgently, as if the word was fire burning in his mouth. Dumbledore smiled sadly, the same look returning to his eyes. This time Nico didn’t hold back his retort, he blamed the potion.

“I don’t  _ need _ your pity!” he yelled, spitting out the words as if they tasted bad and unintentionally smashing the bottle. It all seemed to come back to him at that moment. The fact that he was forced to tell some  _ stranger  _ his whole life story to avoid a life sentence to a wizard jail for a crime he didn’t even understand, let alone commit! The fact that every time he opens up to someone, they call him a freak, or they look at him with that fake and mocking expression that he never asked for! The fact that he never could fit in anywhere, even this time period wasn’t his! The mortal world called him an emo freak ! The half blood world hated his father! The godly world threw him out! And he knew the wizarding world would be no different. 

Tears of fury stained his cheeks, it took everything he had not to tell Dumbledore his life in its entirety, he buried his face in the pillow and bit the fabric to keep from screaming out his truths.    
  


\------

Nico didn’t know when Dumbledore left, but when he had calmed himself down and worked up the nerve to look back up, the man’s chair was empty. Nico let out a grateful breath, glad he didn’t have to face him after his outburst. He didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, Nico slid his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up shakily. He gazed down, he was still wearing his same clothes, but his wounds were cleaned and bandaged as was most of his exposed skin. Nico glanced at the foot of his bed, pleased to see his backpack. Kneeling down to pick it up, he heard muffled voices at the door. 

He decided to just ignore it and began to rummage through his supplies. Nico sighed when he heard footsteps approach his bed, he was  _ not  _ in the mood to talk to people, then again, he never was. He didn’t look up, instead continuing to dig through his possessions, looking for his ambrosia. However the visitors did not take Nico’s hint, and he heard a boy clear his throat. Nico snapped his eyes up to his onlookers giving them a glare that could kill. 

“What?! He asked annoyed, staring at the pair. One was a freckled, gangly red-headed boy that looked rather nervous. The other stood a few inches shorter, but still taller than Nico, his skin was a lightish brown and eyes were a bright green. He looked like a desi version of (and less hot) version of Percy. 

“We, erm… uh.... thought you would be asleep.” the look alike son of Poseidon muttered. Nico was about bite back with some retort, but he noticed something radiating off the green eyed boy, his scar to be exact. It smelled rotten, as if some child's old moldy lunch was packed densely into his head. 

“And what exactly were you planning to do while I was sleeping? Perverts,” Nico snarled, collecting himself and wanting nothing more than to be finished with the conversation. The two boys ears’ turned red and they seemed at a loss for words. Nico smirked to himself in triumph as he turned back to his supplies. After a few moments of thick silence and the demigod’s glowering the boys spoke up again.

“I demand to know who you are and how you got into Hogwarts?!” the redhead commanded, with an uncertain quiver in his voice that didn’t add to threat. 

“I’m sorry, no actually I’m not, but I-” Nico was cut off by the creak of the infirmary door. A girl rushed in, with dark brown skin and mane of bushy brown hair rippling around her as she ran.    
“Ron, Harry!” she scolded, out of breath,

“We’re not aloud in the infirmary until the teachers find out what to do about the boy…” she said her voice trailing off as she saw Nico staring daggers at each of them. Both boys groaned, Nico could tell they were used to this criticism. The girl seemed to have regained her composure and along with the others studied Nico with an intense stare.

“Gods! I’m not some zoo animal up for exhibit!” Nico yelled, exasperated.

“Sorry,” the green-eyed boy mumbled, averting his gaze.

“Wait… did you say ‘gods’?” the girl asked.

“You know it’s considered common courtesy to introduce yourself, before demanding one’s religion,” the Halfblood sighed, rolling his eyes already annoyed with her questions. Nico didn’t really care about talking to these kids, or faking politeness, he just wanted to eat his ambrosia in peace. 

After some more awkward silence, (Nico was quite used to this as it was common in conversations with him) the brunette spoke up.

“Look, we’re sorry to just come barging in here and interrogating you, can we just start over?” Nico once again rolled his eyes, but nodded as he moved to sit on the bed with his pack. The other boys, expressions tightened and they gave a not so subtle look at the girl, obviously annoyed.

“Thank you,” the bushy haired girl said with a smile,

“I’m Hermione Granger, this is Ron Weasley and that’s Harry Potter,” she said, gesturing to the redhead and then the black haired boy. The trio seemed to wait watching Nico carefully for a moment after the introduction.

“Um… I’m Nico,” he said, unsure of the meaning behind the pause and deciding to introduce himself, even though he was sure they already knew his name. 

“You don't know who Harry Potter is?” Ron asked in astonishment, (who was already reinforcing Nico’s poor opinion of him). The godling just shook his head, wanting this conversation to be over as quickly as possible. 

“That’s not important now, Ron.” Hermione reprimanded. Nico, who had finally found his ambrosia, was too focussed on the burst of flavour in his mouth to pay attention to the group’s bickering. It tasted like Bianca’s hot chocolate. 

“What’s that?” Harry asked, his green eyes brimming with curiosity.

“Drugs.” Nico replied with a devilish grin. Ron laughed, Harry seemed a bit annoyed, but Hermione looked scandalised and did a very bad job at hiding it. 

“Don’t joke about things like that.” she said in her motherly tone. Nico, yet again rolled his eyes, sensing that this trio would be the source of many headaches. 

“What do guys want anyway, besides demanding to know who I am and how I got into Hogwarts? Because there’s no way I’m going to tell you that and believe me your magic tricks aren’t going to do much” Nico told them, glancing at the infirmary clock. The group didn’t respond, Nico noticed how put out they all seemed, Ron blatantly scowled and Harry and Hermione expressions both fell. 

“Now, I’m going to go to sleep and I hope you guys leave while I’m doing so, otherwise that’d be very creepy.” Nico said before rolling over on his side. The trio looked at each other sad about their failed mission, but determined to get the truth as they slunk out the infirmary door and much to Hermione’s pleasure, to the library.  ****

**Hermione**

As she turned the corner that would be officially out of earshot from the infirmary, Hermione knew the boys would round on her. And of course, she was right.

“We were going to interrogate him, Hermione!! You messed everything up!” Ron roared.

“Come on Hermione!” Harry said annoyed

“Look, a boy like that is obviously skilled and no offence but you guys could not take him. Going through his stuff would have given you some useful information, but he was awake. So I took the liberty of coming up with a new plan. If we really want to get information out of him, then we have to get him to trust us. We have to become friends with him.” 

“Oh so now it’s  _ we _ ! I don’t think we ever invited  _ you _ to follow us into the infirmary!! You know what? I bet the only reason you want to become friends with that emo, is ‘cause you know nobody but another freak would want you!” the ginger yelled, jabbing a finger at her. Hermione turned away from him, determined to not let the tears prickling in her eyes to fall. Her face felt hot and her fists were shaking. She had assumed a revolt against her plan, but she never expected this. 

She could hear Harry saying something, but for once didn’t listen. When her shock had turned to bitter resentment, she whirled back around and faced Ron, not caring about the wetness running down her face. 

“You know! I’m curious RONALD, are you always such an utter idiot or is it only when I’m around?!!” she yelled, before whipping around and slapping him in the face with her hair as she pressed down the hall. 

“Hermione, wait!!” Harry called after her, but she didn’t look back.


	3. Luna's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico meets a house elf, Luna has a secret and Hermione makes a promise.

_ Hi my wonderful friends! I just wanted to say again that I don’t own anything, it all belongs to JK Rowling (that transphobic bitch, who i fucking hate and u cant read this if u support her) and Rick Riordan! I also wanted to tell you that I was originally just going to write it from Nico and Hermione’s points of view, but I have decided to also do Luna’s as a main one, along with little snippets of a few other characters. Also just a reminder I know Luna is in Ginny’s year, but I decided to move her up. So yeah, I hope all you lovely people stay safe and healthy, I can’t believe I made it to 700 hits! Thank you all so much for reading! _

**Dumbledore**

Albus paced his office as Fawkes sat resting on his perch watching the man intently. His soft cooing filled the room, Dumbledore knew that this was the phoenix’s attempt to calm his companion, and though it didn’t work the old wizard couldn’t help but smile. Fawkes had always been there for him through past trying times and Albus knew he would be there during future’s. 

He glanced at the clock, there were still a good few hours until the demigod's trial would begin. With a sigh, Dumbledore went back to pondering the thing that had caused him to pace in the first place. 

The boy was just far too similar to another he'd met all those years ago. The same disrespect of authority, (though Tom quickly learned to cover that up), those harsh, angry eyes and troubled past that gave him the indifferent attitude. Dumbledore could've sworn he told Nico the same thing he'd told Tom decades ago. Though he didn't know much about the children of the gods, the man recognized that this was no normal halfblood. The wizard called for a House Elf to bring the boy a meal and a fresh pair of robes, he would be sure to keep an eye on Nico Di Angelo.

  
  


**Nico**

Once Nico was sure that the bothersome trio of wizards were gone, the boy crawled out from under the covers and continued the inventory of his supplies. He scowled at the missing weapons from his pack, however unsurprised. A soft smile momentarily graced his lips as his fingers raked over the shape of the Hades figurine, though soon replaced by a glower as bittersweet moments came back. 

Will there ever be a time when Nico can think of her and just smile? No, he refused to get his hopes up like he used to, Nico knew he should just face it. The moment Bianca died every memory of her became tarnished, he would never be able to think of her and be happy. All reminders of their time together would just leave him with the sinking feeling that he’ll never get even a second like that again. He wished he could forget, it would be easier than this. 

It was then that he heard a small knock on the door. Groaning at the prospect of having another conversation with snooping students, Nico buried his head in the pillow.

"yes?" he said quietly hoping that they'd take the hint and leave him alone, and of course, he was wrong. Nico heard the familiar creak of the hinge, he had been accustomed to despise, then quiet, quick steps to his bed.

When Nico raised his tired head off the pillow, if the boy wasn’t a demigod with crazy nightmares, he would’ve been sure he was dreaming. A small humanoid creature stood at the foot of his bed, it’s large bat-like ears hanging limply off it’s oversized head and baseball sized eyes stared up at him in awe. It was dressed in an old flour sack tied at it’s shoulder and carried a hefty tray of food. 

After a few seconds of gawking, (that Nico wouldn’t admit happened) the godling jumped to his feet and reached for anything that could be used as a weapon. However, he came up with nothing of that nature. 

“Oh no! Bibbly is sorry Mr Di Angelo! he did not mean to startle you! Please forgive me! Master Dumbledore sent Bibbly up to bring you something to eat!” the creature squeaked, slightly backing away. Nico’s expression softened and he moved to sit on the bed. 

“Oh, thank you,” he said gently while giving an awkward smile. He took the tray from the humanoid as they were clearly straining under the weight. However the little elfish fellow,  _ beamed  _ at Nico

“Your welcome Mr Di Angelo!” 

Nico looked through the food, most of it nothing he had seen before. However his hunger won over his caution and he picked the most normal sandwich seeming thing. 

“You can just call me Nico,” he added.

“Ok Mr Nico!’’ 

The silence was thick and uncomfortable as Nico nibbled at the odd British food and the creature stared up at him like one of Dionysus’ crazed worshippers. 

“I’m sorry if this offends you but, If you don’t mind me asking… what… are you?” the Halfblood inquired, the moment he said it already regretting opening his mouth, as Nico was certain that he offended Bibbly.

“A House Elf Sir!” he explained, in his usual excited squeak, as if the boy was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

“Oh, that’s um… er... nice, do you work at Hogwarts?” Nico wondered aloud. 

“Yes sir! Many House Elves do! Hogwarts is the best place I have ever worked!” Nico frowned at that, the creature was dressed in rags, ‘Master Dumbledore’ did not seem to be treating them as well as he implied. 

Suddenly Nico felt incredibly impolite, here he was stuffing himself with all this food, while this poor house elf, who, by the looks of it was skin and bones, was forced to wait on him. 

“I’m sorry I’m being rude, would you like some?” The demigod asked with a smile, he knew what it was like to go hungry. 

“Oh no Mr Nico! Bibbly is fine! Master Dumbledore said to make sure you eat!” Nico was unsure, but he decided not to press. 

There was another creek of the old door hinge and a middle aged, motherly woman entered.

“Oh good, Dumbledore told me you woke up,” she said as she approached his cot. “I’m Madame Pomfrey the physician and it is very important that I talk to you, Bibbly take the plates and leave the clothing, he shouldn’t eat any more.” Nico didn’t like doctors, ever since he was a little kid they made him nervous. He didn’t like the touching or personal questions, or the changes in his ‘unhealthy’ lifestyle that came with the visits. 

She circled around to his cot, surveying him with a clipboard and scribbling down notes with a… feather?(gods wizards are so weird). “Now, young man, I have fixed all of your superficial injuries, the cuts, scratches, animal bites, what have you, however, just judging by appearance you are extremely underweight – how old are you exactly?”

“13,” Nico replied, shifting uncomfortably. 

“Right,” Madame Pomfrey said absentmindedly as she scratched something else down.

“Now, I’m going to have you take a shower, then we need to weigh you, and after that as you are also very sleep deprived I would have you rest, however  _ Fudge _ wanted the trial the  _ day _ you woke up, so I’m afraid that will have to wait.” She talked very fast and Nico only understood that he was told to shower, but that was all he needed as the physician handed him the clothing and he followed her finger pointing towards a door at the end of the row of beds. 

Nico padded over with uncertainty, this would be the first time he would see himself since he left camp. The floorboards croaked like bullfrogs as he shuffled over. The bathroom was a small, but  _ impeccably  _ clean room, a simple shower with a plastic curtain in the far corner and chipped white paint over the walls. Nico sighed and stumbled to the mirror over the sink. 

At first he didn’t look, just staring down at his shoes. The idea of seeing his face after the months without a mirror and only the blurry smudge of charcoal that he saw staring back at him when he happened to come across a body of water – was utterly terrifying to him…

After a few more moments of contemplation, he looked up.

Nico’s skin was dirty and gross and his hair was oily and matted with undistinguishable substances. His face looked more like a three day old murder victim than a living person, Madame Pomfrey may have healed all his cuts, but the dried blood was still caked all across his cheeks and forehead. 

He was nothing like the boy that lived at camp halfblood just a few months ago. Back then, his pale skin looked less sickly, his ribs didn’t show, his hair was fluffy and less dead looking overall. 

The worst change was his eyes… they were still wide and brown, but nothing like at camp…. They looked  _ broken. _

He felt as if he was staring back into the face of his lost 10 year old self. 

He blinked back tears for perhaps that 3rd time that day and climbed into the shower. The harsh pulse of the jetstream was welcoming on his bruised skin, just on the brink of pain.  Nico scrubbed and scraped until his pale body was an angry red, wanting to destroy all evidence of his time in the woods. Everything felt wrong, the feeling of the liquid tickling down his back, the way his hair slicked against his neck,, it was so...uncomfortable. Once the water that ran off his body was clear, Nico was out. 

He had never really liked showers, too much time with his thoughts, no distractions to keep him occupied. 

he toweled off and turned to the clothes. Nico had not examined them before showering and they now lay in a heap on the ground where he had left them. Picking them up, they smelt very clean, nice and black – which he appreciated. Nico went through the items, he found an undershirt, undergarments, and a pair of simple black pants...and robes? oh no way he was wearing robes.

the halfblood began to dress, deciding that to just wear the undershirt was the lesser of the two evils and settled for that. Though as the boy was about to leave, he glimpsed his reflection in the mirror again and did a backtrack, his hair as it was now wet and limp rested at an awkward length, almost to his shoulders, all scraggly an mullet-like. Sighing he searched a cabinet above the sink an luckily managed to find a comb and a pair of small scissors buried behind some antibiotics. 

it was an awkward process, trying his best to not get hair all over the bathroom, he began to hack off parts with the far too tiny scissors attempting to go for something vaguely resembling his old haircut. By the end it was far from good, his bangs were awkward and he was certain the back of his head was uneven, but still better than before. 

Nico made his way for the door and Exited out into the infirmary. 

**Luna**

When Luna said goodbye to her father at the station she wasn’t nervous, nor was she when she said hello to the nice first years on the train, not even at her sorting, as the hat was very polite. Luna didn’t mind that all the other Ravenclaws thought she was a bit odd, she was used to being an outcast. 

But what did make her nervous was the new boy, or not him particularly, but what surrounded him. The blonde had been present when he appeared out of the floor and she had seen his fight with the seal-like animal. Though Luna may not have known exactly what this creature was, she recognized it instantly, however, quickly wished she hadn’t. From the moment when it’s sleek, black head had peeked out of the trap door, jaws clamped around the raven haired boy’s leg, Luna felt her stomach drop. 

Suddenly she was nine years old again, her mother grinning at her, potion in hand and wand in the other. Luna ran over excitedly, clutching the spell book that was half her weight. Then suddenly in the time it took for an apple to be plucked from a tree, her would have been, picture perfect memory, became a horror story. It all seemed like the blink of an eye, but at the same time like the whole world had stopped and dropped everything just to stare. 

Luna remembered watching her mother’s pretty grey eyes widen, hearing ravenous voices that spoke in savage tongues and worst of all, feeling her mother’s warm, wet blood decorate the room as she was ripped apart like a piece of meat. Then she remembered running like hell, across the room, down the stairs into her father’s arms, all the while painting the floor with red footprints like some sort of sick, sadistic work of art. 

Father had told her she was screaming, but Luna couldn’t recall that, only the snarling voices that still whispered to her from the dark places in her mind, the same ones that she heard on her first day of Transfiguration. 

No one noticed when Luna ran out of the classroom looking for the safety of her father’s embrace, however finding nothing but an empty, cold hallway. 

\-------

The next few days Luna had not stopped contemplating, she collected every bit of information from the library, eavesdropped on every student when she heard them speaking of the mysterious boy, (which was quite often), however the girl was no closer to the truth than she had been at the start of her quest. No books at the library mentioned the creature and the teachers were no help, releasing no information about the boy, as he was still (allegedly) unconscious.

Luna sat on her bed, once again going over recent events in her head, this was usually an enjoyable experience for her, as the girl quite liked to think. But not today. Luna was aware that she, among wizard kind, knew nothing about the wonderous world around them. When she was a child that was something father had been sure to teach her, advising Luna to open her mind to all possibilities. 

However whenever Luna worked the courage to ask about the monster that had stolen her mother from them, she was met with the same scripted answer,

‘I don’t know Luna… it’s too painful to talk about… there are just some things that we won’t ever find out…”

However this was something that she couldn’t accept not knowing, Luna needed answers and she was getting more and more desperate to find them. 

She wearily got up from her bed and went to the already studied stack of books at the end of her bed and heaved them into her arms. Luna hobbled out of the dormitory with a sigh, none of her roommates looked up from their studies. 

For some reason unlike the other first years, Luna had no trouble navigating the castle, finding her way through the long corridors and moving staircases came easily to her, like the sorting hat was still whispering helpful hints into her ear. 

Luna’s mind once again drifted to the boy, his hollow angry eyes and torn up blood soaked clothes, what was he doing now? She doubted that he was still asleep, then again the boy did look exhausted judging from the bags around his eyes. She had to stop calling him ‘the boy’, he had a name…. Nico, that was it. Nico Di Angelo. 

How likely was he to help her? She couldn’t believe that he would spill all his secrets to someone he just met without a very good reason. From the moment he appeared in the classroom Luna knew he wasn’t the chatty type. He had clearly seen a lot, and going from the few questions he had dained to answer, he didn’t seem like the trusting type...

There was no way that she would get answers from him. But what was Luna if not someone who explored all options?

**Hermione**

Hermione stormed the halls in a blind rage, she didn’t know where she was headed,(when did she ever in this labyrinth??) but this time she hardly cared. For once she didn’t pause to look at the paintings, or stop to awe at the architecture, not even to chat with Nicolas. How could Ron say that to her?! If it wasn’t for her then the boys would probably be dead or maimed or something! They were lucky for Hermione to offer her help, she didn’t even tell professor McGonagall that they were sneaking in to interrogate the boy! How could Ron have the audacity to tell her that she wasn’t wanted! 

Well… perhaps they weren't the best of friends and yesterday she might have told Flitwick that he cheated off Harry on his homework, but he did! She was completely in the right… certainly… probably… maybe?

As Hermione’s internal tirade was about to take on more steam, she noticed something that made her pause. Someone was strolling down the hall with a stack of books that completely covered their face. The pile was swaying dangerously over their head, but the person seemed oblivious. Sighing, the brunette made her way over to the fellow reader, unsure of how to approach since she didn’t want to startle them. 

However, Hermione realized that she didn’t need to as a question cut through her thoughts

“Hermione? Is that you?” the familiar, song-like voice of Luna Lovegood called from behind the pile. 

“Yes Luna, here… let me help you…” She said as she awkwardly took on half of the burdan. However, the sight behind the mountain of literature was not the one Hermione had seen on the train. Luna looked almost as bad as Nico. Dark circles hung under her eyes and her hair was even more messy than Harry’s. Both girls still smiled stiffly at each other nonetheless. 

“Thank you,” the blonde said gratefully. 

“Where are you taking these?” 

“Oh just back to the Library,” 

After a few minutes of walking in silence something dawned on Hermione… had Luna read _all_ these books? Hermione was nothing but an avid reader… but even for her this was a little eccentric. Barely any of these looked school related as well, Dr Rupert Giles Guide to illusive and Dangerous Beasts? This hadn’t been assigned for Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid hadn’t given any projects where Luna would need to research...

“Luna… what are these for?” Hermione asked, trying to sound casual. The other girl, however, flushed deeply and hid her face once again behind the stack. 

“Oh… just some… books, that I thought would be interesting…” Normally she would just write this off as one of Luna’s many oddities, but the girl in question was a terrible liar, and Hermione was sure this wasn’t the truth. 

“Have you read all of them?” she pressed. Luna sighed and gave a small nod, clearly done with the charade. After a few uncomfortable moments, (that felt more like hours), where neither of the girls said anything further, Luna stopped dead in her tracks. 

“Hermione… can you keep a secret?” Usually Hermione would correct Luna’s grammar, however judging by the girl’s state and the fact that she was probably going to tell her something important, Hermione kept her mouth shut.

“Of course,” Luna bit her lip and glanced around the empty corridor, as if expecting to find Snape Lurking nearby, desperate to hear her stories. 

“You know the creature that had attacked the boy?” Hermione nodded “That was the same one that killed my mom,” she whispered, a bit misty. The brunette’s eyes widened, she didn’t even know that Luna had lost her mother, let alone that she was murdered by the same creatures that the mysterious (and rather unfriendly) Nico Di Angelo had brought into Hogwarts.

“I’m sorry… it must have been so hard to relive that…. But don’t you think that it was probably just a rare and dangerous magical creature that happened to have attacked the boy as well?” Hermione asked, being careful not to offend the girl. 

Luna shook her head 

“No, I’ve researched it in my father’s study many times and he has almost every work on uncommon creatures, and now I have at Hogwarts library as well. There is no record of it…” she said quietly, her voice breaking a bit and trailing off. 

Then before Hermione knew it, Luna was crying. Hot tears spilled from her blue eyes and her lip trembled as she hid her face with her hands and a layer of wavy blonde hair. 

“I’m sorry… I..I don’t know why I’m like this…. I just, I have to find out what happened…” she sniffled between quiet sobs. 

Hermione didn’t know what to say. This was her second interaction with Luna, besides the casual nods in the hallways, and the girl was breaking down crying, confessing one of her deepest secrets. Either she was a major oversharer, or Luna needed a friend just as much, if not more, than the other girl. 

The brunette didn’t mean to do it, she didn’t even remember thinking before, but then she was discarding her share of the books and hugging Luna. Then, even more shocking, she was telling her -

“We’re going to find out what happened to your mom, I promise.” 

Why was she doing this? She barely knew Luna and the little things she did know, just left Hermione with more questions. This girl was everything that she didn’t like, her disregard for fact, (since apparently ‘ _you can’t really prove something does or doesn’t exist’)_ , the way Luna went obliviously through life and how she got such good scores when Hermione was convinced that she didn’t even know half the material.

Promises were dangerous and Hermione knew this, but… she didn’t even know what. Was it just because Luna was crying? Did her tears trigger some odd maternal instinct to protect a girl that wasn’t even younger than her? But that didn’t really matter, what did was the fact that Hermione had made a promise and now her mission to find out Nico Di Angelo’s secrets just became a whole lot more serious than one-upping the boys.

A/N -sorry ik i havent posted in a while an this chapter is short, but i have a rly cool idea for the next one.


End file.
